ROCKWELL Land Corp. expects three
residential projects to bring in some P22.5 billion in revenues, a company
official said last week.

ROCKWELL Land Corp. is launching the
fifth and final tower of the Proscenium, a mixed-use project rising on a
3.6-hectare lot, in September this year. -- E-ROCKWELL

Rockwell Land President Nestor J.
Padilla told reporters it is launching the fifth and final tower of the
Proscenium, a mixed-use project rising on a 3.6-hectare lot owned previously by
Colgate-Palmolive Philippines, in September this year.

The luxury building will generate
P10.5 billion in revenues from the sale of 563 units at an average price of
P200,000 per square meter.

So far, the first three towers at
Proscenium -- Kirov, Sakura, and Lincoln -- are 76% sold as of last month.
Lorraine, the fourth tower, is offering 177 units in the market.

Likewise, Rockwell Land is rolling out
two new projects in Pasig and Muntinlupa cities that will add 230,000 square
meters of gross floor area to its portfolio, equivalent to five to seven years
of inventory.

They will be introduced under Rockwell
Primaries, the listed firm’s subsidiary catering to the broader segment of the
market, with combined revenues pegged at P12 billion.

The Pasig project -- called The
Vantage at Kapitolyo -- will be Rockwell Primaries’ first high-rise project on
a half-a-hectare lot in Barangay Kapitolyo.

The property developer will also turn
the 6.5-hectare premium property in Sucat into an exclusive condominium village
touted to be Rockwell Primaries’ biggest project to date.

Rockwell Land has earmarked P13
billion this year to finance the development of its residential and commercial
projects.

The Lopez-led real estate company is
doubling its office and retail space in the next five years to 200,000 square
meters to increase its recurring income stream.

Rockwell Land is considering raising
public ownership in the company from the current 12%-13% to boost liquidity
that will allow the market to price its shares correctly, but a definite
timetable was not provided.

Shares of Rockwell Land added 1.80% or
three centavos to finish at P1.70 apiece. -- Krista Angela M. Montealegre

A leading property portal, which lists
more than 100,000 properties for sale in the Philippines, confirmed that an
idyllic island in Cagayan province valued at P80 billion was leased out to an
American investor.

Jacqueline van den Ende, the Dutch
managing director of Lamudi Philippines, said an American investor signed a
lease agreement for the 100-square-kilometer Fuga Island in Aparri,
Cagayan.She did not disclose more
details such as the actual lease terms, as Lamudi was not directly involved in
the financial transaction.Lamudi just
provides a link between sellers, buyers and brokers.

Fuga Island is not the only island
advertised for sale or lease through Lamudi’s Web site.“We have 10 private islands for sale,” said
van den Ende.

Van den Ende did not identify the 10
other islands, but a check on Lamudi’s Web site shows that some islands or
parts of the islands are being sold for as much as P300 million.These include islands in Aklan, Palawan and
Quezon.

Even waterfalls are being advertised
for sale. A 5.2-hectare property in Iloilo province, featuring 120-meter
waterfalls, is being sold for P8 million.

MANILA, Philippines - A new four-star
hotel opened recently in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija. Built by First Kingston
Leisure and Services Corp., the newly-opened Harvest Hotel boasts of locally
produced furnishings and artwork as well as amenities like an all-day dining restaurant
and café fronting the swimming pool, fitness center, ballroom, function rooms,
business center and a boutique store.

Hotel owner Maria Angelica Aimee
Ilagan said one reason why she chose Cabanatuan as the site of Harvest Hotel is
that it is the hometown of her mother, Angie Ilagan.

Besides, we saw a good opportunity
here, she said, noting that Cabanatuan has long been the center of trade in
Central Luzon. It is deemed the economic heart of Nueva Ecija because of its
business-friendly practices, which earned it a classification of a first-class
city. Over70 banks as well as regional
offices of multinational corporations are located here, and serves as second
home to visiting executives and top managers from Manila and other countries.

“We wanted to put up an establishment the
locals will look forward to go to and be proud of,” Ilagan said as she pointed
out that the hotel sits on a 8,000-square meter property located in the center
of the city. The 80 plus rooms, which include classic and loft suites are
well-appointed but not flashy.Function
is never compromised for form.

“We understand that Cabanatuan City is
primarily a city of commerce.As such,
majority of the hotel guests are either people in business, in government for
live-in seminars and entrepreneurs in the province” explained hotel GM Marc
Montesa.

What makes a hotel stay pleasant is
the personalized service.What makes it
memorable is the kitchen creations served using what this old city is known
for.In this case, the Group Hotel
Director, Belgian-born Philippe Bartholomi personally developed the menu at the
hotel’s Cafe Ecija.

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Hospitality Innovators, Inc. (HII) is
the hotel management team behind Harvest so the imprints of innovation are
present in various aspects of the hotel. Ably steered by its founder and chief
executive officer, Luis “Spanky” Monserrat, HII has established itself as one
of the leading hotel and property management companies in the Philippines.His Innovision,a clever play on the words Innovation and
Vision ,sets it apart from other conventional hotel management outfits as
careful attention to details and needs of the unique clients of each hotel are
applied.Understanding the uniqueness
of each hotel translates to warm, unpretentious and genuine service to every guest.

One distinguishing character of all
Hii-managed properties is the offer of high quality accommodations at rates
that represent value for money. The Harvest hotel definitely fits that bill.

MANILA, Philippines - Eton Properties
Philippines Inc., the real estate arm of the Lucio Tan Group, is embarking on
an aggressive investment spree over the next five years with at least P28
billion earmarked for expansion.

In an interview following the
company’s annual stockholders meeting yesterday, Eton deputy chief operating
officer Josefino C. Lucas said the company is doubling its capital expenditures
this year to P9 billion from last year’s P4.3 billion.

“Among the company’s 2015 plans is to
launch a mixed-use development composed of a high rise condominium, a boutique
mall, and a BPO office building. Plans are also afoot to commence construction
of a fifth BPO building in Eton Centris, and to expand Centris Walk, in order
to increase our retail footprint and enhance recurring income streams,” Lucas
said.

This year’s spending budget will form
part of the company’s plan to spend at least P28 billion until 2019.

Lucas said the five-year capex
consists only of the projects to be launched this year as well as several more
in the pipeline.

“So if there are projects somewhere
around 2018, then that would mean revising the capex for the next five years,”
he said.

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Eton is planning to almost double its
current gross leasable offering of 156,000 square meters to 300,000 sqm over
the next two to four years.

Lucas said 70 percent of the company’s
total revenues currently come from residential projects while the remaining 30
percent is from its leasing business.

Lucas said the plan is to increase the
contribution of leasing to 35 percent by yearend and 50 percent by 2020 through
its five-year expansion binge.

He said Eton’s leasing revenues this
year “would easily hit P1.1 billion or P1.2 billion,” up from last year’s P740
million.

“Our existing projects are mostly
residential. Our BPOs are fully leased out. We could have started earlier but
that did not happen because last year was consolidation, trying to prepare
plans for the next five years,” Lucas said.

“We’re not being very aggressive in
residential, we’re tempering it. We would like to build up more on our
recurring income by capitalizing on the BPO market. We think that’s where
significant growth is,” he added.

Last year, the company focused
primarily on the delivery of its projects and the completion of existing
developments which resulted in a 38-percent drop in gross revenues at P2.28
billion.

Real estate sales accounted for
revenues of P1.54 billion, declining 52 percent from the previous year as a
direct result of the temporary halt in sales activities.

Eton, however, still ended 2014 with a
net income of P119.86 million, 14 percent higher than the previous year’s
P105.07 million.

“We believe that the real estate
market will remain strong in the segments where Eton operates, and that there
is room for us to pursue its expansion plans beginning 2015,” Lucas said.

More business process outsourcing
companies have started introducing new services, driving the growth of the
property sector higher in the first quarter of 2015, real estate consultancy
firm CBRE Philippines Inc. said Wednesday.

“There is no let-up in the growth of
the property sector. The supply and demand across the office, residential,
retail and industrial markets remain positive, especially with the upcoming
Asean integration,” CBRE Philippines founder and chief executive Rick Santos
said in a briefing at the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati City.

BPO revenues in 2014 grew 18.7 percent
from 2013, resulting in strong office take-up at the start of year 2015.

The consultancy firm expects domestic
demand to increase further in 2015 after a 4.1-percent and 10.3-percent
expansion in 2014 and 2013, respectively.

The office market is expected to
maintain an upward movement with the projected introduction of about 780,000
square meters of office spaces in the next few quarters.

Lease rates in the central business
district of Makati inched up 0.8 percent, while overall vacancy rating rating
rose 4.73 percentage points to 5 percent.

The dearth in office supply within the
CBD is seen to fuel rental rates in the coming quarters and vacancies are seen
to contract with the completion of new office buildings by 2017.

Fort Bonifacio absorbed more office
spaces in the first quarter, while demand for office space in Ortigas increased
with the expansion of BPOs.